It was a special night for 72-year-old Jacques Caron, the Devils’ former goaltending coach, and for 24-year-old rookie Finnish winger Harri Pesonen.

Caron was honored before the game for almost 20 years with the club and his role in three Stanley Cup championships.

“I felt like my first game in the (NHL), a little nervous at first, but once I started talking I kind of relaxed and just spoke through the heart and it was kind of easy,” Caron said.

He received a wrist watch from Devils players and a vacation in Italy from owner Jeff Vanderbeek. Protégé Martin Brodeur received loud cheers as he watched from a suite and was shown on the video screen. Caron called him "the greatest goaltender in the world."

Caron thanked Jacques Lemaire and "my great friend" Lou Lamoriello. He also said: "I hope the Devils, with this great coaching staff, will bring a fourth Stanley Cup to New Jersey soon."

Pesonen, made his NHL debut.

“It was fun. I liked every moment of this day. I’m definitely going to remember this,” Pesonen said. “But I’m glad it’s over. Hopefully I did some good things and they’ll keep me up here.”
Coach Pete DeBoer said of Pesonen: “I thought he gave us some good energy.”

Pesonen, who had 13 shifts for 8:32 of ice time, admitted being nervous.

“Of course. It wasn’t too bad,” he said. “The ceremony made it a little harder. You wanted to get the game going. It’s tough after a game to be so happy when the team loses.”

* * *

Adam Henrique had a chance to score the tying goal with 39.6 seconds remaining on a wrap-around at the right post.

“I don’t know if it just came off my stick or not. I don’t know if I just lost it there or what,” he said. “It was a good chance.”

* * *

Injured center Andrei Loktionov was in the dressing room talking to Ilya Kovalchuk after the game but was hustled away before reporters could talk to him.

* * *

Coach Pete DeBoer on the way his team is playing: “I feel good about our game. I feel good about our team game how we’re playing. Obviously we need more results and the results are going to come with scoring a few more goals. When we lose it’s usually because we’re only getting one goal. We have to find a way over the last 19 games to put the puck in the net more consistently.”